After his team’s triumph in the World Test Championship, South Africa coach Shukri Conrad has challenged the idea of a “Big Three” in world cricket.
South Africa beat Australia by five wickets at Lord’s to win the third edition of the World Test Championship last week, ending a drought of global titles in senior men's cricket since 1998.
Over the course of the championship, there was criticism levied at South Africa’s supposed “easy route” to the final, facing three sub-continental sides at home, and avoiding playing both Australia and England. In an interview with Sportsboom, however, Conrad dismissed those claims as well as that of the presence of a “Big Three”, a phrase often used to refer to India, England, and Australia.
'We always felt that we belonged'
Before the final, several pundits predicted Australia as the favourites to win, something Conrad says never affected his side. “We always felt that we belonged. We never even felt that we were underdogs in any of this. There’s never a conversation that happened in any of our team talks.
“Everybody dubbed Australia as the huge favourites, probably on the back of the experience more than anything else ... We’re one of the main cricket teams in the world and like I said also we create our own reality.
“I don’t think we ever, ever felt that there is a Big Three. Only in their own minds is there a Big Three. We’ve never felt that there’s a Big Three. We might not have played England or Australia in the build-up to the final, but we managed to play Australia in the final, and we wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.”
Conrad continued: “They [the three teams] create their own realities, and unfortunately, none of them are [Test] champions. We are the Test champions now, so I feel absolutely nothing about the top three. I don’t believe that there is a top three.”
